The Caribbean before Columbus

by William F. Keegan, Corinne L. Hofman

Overview

The islands of the Caribbean are remarkably diverse, environmentally and culturally. They range from low limestone islands barely above sea level to volcanic islands with mountainous peaks; from large islands to small cays; from islands with tropical rainforests to those with desert habitats. Today's inhabitants have equally diverse culture histories. The islands are home to a mosaic of indigenous communities and to the descendants of Spanish, French, Dutch, English, Swedish, Danish, Irish, African, East Indian, Chinese, Syrian, Seminole and other nationalities who settled there during historic times. The islands are now being homogenized, all to create a standard experience for the Caribbean tourist. There is a similar attempt to homogenize the Caribbean's pre-Columbian past. It was assumed that every new prehistoric culture had developed out of the culture that preceded it. We now know that far more complicated processes of migration, acculturation, and accommodation occurred. Furthermore, the overly simplistic distinction between the "peaceful Arawak" and the "cannibal Carib," which forms the structure for James Michener's Caribbean, still dominates popular notions of precolonial Caribbean societies.

This book documents the diversity and complexity that existed in the Caribbean prior to the arrival of Europeans, and immediately thereafter. The diversity results from different origins, different histories, different contacts between the islands and the mainland, different environmental conditions, and shifting social alliances. Organized chronologically, from the arrival of the first humans-the paleo-Indians-in the sixth millennium BC to early contact with Europeans, The Caribbean before Columbus presents a new history of the region based on the latest archaeological evidence. The authors also consider cultural developments on the surrounding mainland, since the islands' history is a story of mobility and exchange across the Caribbean Sea, and possibly the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits. The result is the most up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the richly complex cultures who once inhabited the six archipelagoes of the Caribbean.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190605254
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

William F. Keegan is Curator of Caribbean Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida.

Corinne L. Hofman is Professor of Caribbean Archaeology and Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
1. CARIBBEAN KALEIDOSCOPE
The Caribbean Islands
Different Ways of Seeing
Far Tortuga
The Name Game
Ciboney and Guanahatebey
Indios, Arawak, Taíno, Lucayan, Igneri
Carib and Kalinago
Changing Frames of Reference
Underlying Structure
2. THE EARLIEST INHABITANTS
FLAKED-STONE TOOL COMPLEXES
Origins
Cultural Characteristics
Environmental Considerations
Barrera-Mordán Site, Dominican Republic (representing circa 4000 BC)
Lithic Age Assemblages
GROUND-STONE TOOL COMPLEXES
Banwari Trace Site, Trinidad (circa 5000 B.C)
Origins
Climate Change and Anthropogenic Landscapes
Archaic Age Assemblages in the Greater Antilles
Archaic Age Pottery
European and Archaic Age Encounters
Conclusions
3. THE EARLY CERAMIC AGE
From Forest to Sea
Creating Identities
Trants Site, Montserrat (circa 400 BC to AD 500)
Hacienda Grande Site, Puerto Rico (circa AD 150 to 500)
Redefining the Early Ceramic Age
Morel Site, Guadeloupe (circa 400 BC to AD 1400)
Scale and Perspective
Settlement Patterns
Golden Rock Site, St. Eustatius (circa AD 600 to 850)
Subsistence Economy
Material Culture
Sociopolitical Organization
Cosmology
Conclusions
4. POST-SALADOID PUERTO RICO
Dispersion (circa AD 500 to 900)
Crab/Shell Dichotomy
A Plethora of Pottery Styles
Population Growth and Settlement Patterns
Río Tanamá 2 Site (cal AD 980 to 1490)
Egalitarian, Hierarchical, or Heterarchical?
Settlement Landscape and Community Structure (AD 950 and Beyond)
Río Tanamá 1 site (circa cal AD 980 to 1490)
Formalization of Exchange
Plaza de Estrella, Tibes Ceremonial Center
"Taíno" in Puerto Rico?
Late Pottery Styles (Figure 4.6)
Demography
Stone-lined Courts and Plazas
Cacicazgos
Conclusions
5. MEILLACOID AND CHICOID WORLDS
Foragers and Farmers
Pottery Styles in Hispaniola
An Island Divided
El Cabo Site, Southeastern Dominican Republic (circa AD 600 to 1500)
Northwestern Dominican Republic
Meillacoid Revolution
El Flaco Site, Northwestern Dominican Republic (circa AD 900 to 1500)
Île à Rat Site, Haiti (circa AD 900 to 1500)
Social Transformations
Cacicazgos
En Bas Saline, Haiti (circa AD 1492)
Sweetness and Power
Chicoid Expansion
Conclusions
7. CUBA, THE BAHAMA ARCHIPELAGO, AND JAMAICA
CUBA
Preagroalfarera (Archaic Age)
Protoagrícola (Incipient Agriculture)
Agricultores Ceramistas (Ceramic Age)
Regional Integration
El Chorro de Maíta, Banes (circa AD 1200 to post AD 1600)
Precious Metals
Chicoid Influences
Los Buchillones Site (circa AD 1220 to 1640)
Conclusions
BAHAMA ARCHIPELAGO
Exploration and Colonization
Coralie Site, Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands (circa AD 700 to 1100)
Small Islands
Governors Beach Site, Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands (circa AD 1100 to 1300)
Permanent Settlement
Late Ceramic Age
MC-6, Middle Caicos, Turks & Caicos Islands (circa AD 1400 to 1600)
The (Not So) Empty Islands
JAMAICA
Pottery Series as Distinct Cultures
Paradise Park Sites, Westmoreland (circa AD 850 and AD 1430)
Conclusions
8. LESSER ANTILLEAN NETWORKS
The First Islanders
Late Archaic Age
Archaic Age Summary
Neolithization of the Lesser Antilles
Post-Saladoid Developments
Anse à la Gourde Site, Guadeloupe (circa AD 450 to 1350)
Windward Islands (Southern Lesser Antilles)
Giraudy Site, Saint Lucia (circa AD 900 to 1500)
Social and Political Networks
Kelbey's Ridge 2 Site, Saba (circa AD 1350)
Demographic Collapse after AD 1300
Morne Cybèle and Morne Souffler Sites, La Désirade (circa AD 1440 to 1460)
Kalinago Archaeology
Argyle Site, St. Vincent
Discussion
8. CARIBBEAN
Columbus and Cannibals
Cannibal Raids or Indigenous Trade?
Colonial Emergence
Language
Archaeological Research
Indigenous Settlements
Subsistence
Social Organization
Cacicazgos (Chiefdoms)
Mythology and Religion
Demography
Early Colonial European Chroniclers and the French Missionaries
Kaleidoscope: The Final Turn
REFERENCES CITED

Editorial Reviews

"Few monographs have been able to successfully paint the picture of this complexity in a coherent way. The Caribbean before Columbus is a laudable attempt to fill the void...By attempting to redefine Caribbean archaeology, Keeganand Hofman have tackled a monster, but they have provided a commendable summary of where we are, and an excellent base to build roads to where we would like to be. It will be cited for many years to come." — Isabel Rivera-Collazo, University of San Diego, New West Indian Guide

"This work offers new insights and alternative theories to refine or replace traditional and more commonly cited explanations of prehistory throughout the Caribbean region. It will inspire discussion and debate among scholars, and stimulate new generations of Caribbean researchers on prehistoric societies in the Caribbean. This volume serves as an important and useful tool for educators and students, and an essential reference in Caribbean prehistoric research." — Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton, Cayman Islands National Museum, Grand Cayman, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology

"In conclusion, I commend the authors for taking on an extensive and intensive overview of the ancient Caribbean and expressing new ideas... The book will be a good source of information and references for professionals, as well as for graduate and undergraduate students." — Antonio Curet, Antiquity

"An important feature of the book is its use of specific archaeological sites to illustrate important points. ... Summing Up: Essential. All university and four-year college libraries." —R. Berleant-Schiller, CHOICE

"This is a very significant contribution to Caribbean archaeology. Currently there is not a book out there that deals with as many new interpretations and frameworks or that clearly explains where things have gone wrong in the past. I consider this book to be essential for understanding Caribbean archaeology at any level from undergraduate to professional. ... I find the volume well written in a clear style and with good organisation. There are a lot of complex issues discussed but it is not by any means a difficult read. This is the best work I have found for teaching a senior level undergraduate seminar." — Richard T. Callaghan, International Journal of Maritime History

"Keegan and Hofman's review richly illustrates just how complex and diverse the ancient lifeways of the region once were. This work is sure to be widely read and to spark new research and debate about the prehistoric societies of the Caribbean."-William J. Pestle, University of Miami

From the Publisher